Futures Down, Oil Above $70, China Reeling
Stocks are still trying to reach previous highs, unsuccessfully. We have now been in a trading range since February when Volmageddon hit, which could put stocks (^GSPC) in danger of a waterfall decline sometime this summer. S&P 500 futures are down 10 points this morning, so far. Exacerbating the situation is the daily worsening of trade relations between China and the United States, which seems to be taking its toll on the Chinese stock market first. The Shanghai Composite Index (NYSEARCA:FXI) continues to collapse, breaking through 2,800 today and making a new 52 week low. Oil (NYSEARCA:USO) meanwhile approaches its May highs, indicating that the supposed supply boost from OPEC has not made a dent.
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Boeing Reveals Hypersonic Plane Concept
We have the 3-bladed Mach 3 razor blade, but what about the Mach 5 passenger jet? The razor blade can’t exactly travel Mach 3, but Boeing (NYSE:BA) believes it can get its new concept off the ground and in the air in 20 to 30 years. The plane would be able to go 5x the speed of sound, which would even dilate time itself for passengers in accordance with Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, but only by a few milliseconds. Passengers would be able to cross the Atlantic in about 2 hours, and the Pacific in about 3. Honey roasted peanuts will still be available, according to the latest reports.
Senators Hatch, Corker, Try to Limit Trump Tariff Authority
Some Republican Senators are getting tired and wary of President Trump’s unilateral authority to impose any sort of tariff he feels like on national security grounds. Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Corker are trying to introduce legislation that would force congressional review of any tariff Trump may decide is imperative for national security, when in reality he’s just trying to balance a trade deficit he thinks is a problem from a mercantilist economic perspective. Corker wants to add a retroactive congressional review mandate in a farm subsidy bill, where taxpayers are mandated to hand out money to farmers because, hey, food, and Hatch wants a standalone bill. It is unclear if either of these initiatives will succeed, so in the meantime, tariff party, but at least the US is nationally secure from the threat of foreign-made car parts and cheap Chinese plastic toys and such.
Automakers Warn Tariffs Would Raise Car Prices by $45 Billion
In an alliance that seemingly makes no sense according to protectionist logic, General Motors (NYSE:GM), a US company, Toyota (NYSE:TM), a Japanese company, and Volkswagen AG (OTCMKTS:VLKAY), a German company, have somehow come together to protests against higher car tariffs. The companies will file written comments with the Commerce Department, warning that US consumers will have to pay about $45 billion more for the same cars that were sold in 2017, and that this isn’t good for anyone because it will probably bring down sales.
District Court Judge Orders Migrant Families Reunited
In a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union, Federal district court judge Dana Sabraw granted an injunction against the Trump Administrations new zero tolerance policy against Mexican immigrants crossing the border between points of entry. Sabraw commented, “The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government’s own making,” Sabraw wrote. “They belie measured and ordered governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution.” The government has 14 days to reunite parents with children under 5, and 30 days to reunite parents with children over 5. President Trump has already signed an executive order requiring family reunification, but nothing doing on that. Maybe this will speed things up. But perhaps not. The government can still appeal.